Sounds Around Town: Amy Kucharik makes a lot of music on four strings

By Ed Symkus Correspondent

Wednesday

Apr 11, 2018 at 2:41 PM

All it takes is the strumming and picking of four strings, a voice that ranges from strong to sweet, original songs that also have a range – from funny to romantic to biting – for listeners to fall under the musical spell of Amy Kucharik. The Somerville resident will bring her concert ukulele, her acoustic guitar, and a harmonica to The Burren for a show in celebration of her new CD “Until the Words Are Gone” on April 15.

Kucharik’s first instrument was piano (“I never excelled at it.”). She then moved on to French horn (“Neither that nor the piano inspired me to be a songwriter.”), then guitar (“That was a slow learning curve for me.”), before meeting up with the ukulele, which has absolutely inspired her.

“What’s neat about the ukulele is that with just four strings you can have a lot of fun with alternate voicings up the neck, and jazzy chords,” she said. “I don’t play the ukulele just to play the ukulele. I play it as a way to deliver the songs that I write.”

She was already playing the instrument when she moved to Boston about 15 years ago, landing a job in publishing, then getting laid off.

“While I was looking for another job, I realized I had this new (ukulele) hobby, and I thought I’d see if I could start making a few bucks on the side, on a nice day,” she said, referring to how she got into busking on sidewalks and in subway stations. “I went out a few times with a busking amp that I borrowed from my friend Greg Klyma. Tom Bianchi, who hosts the Backroom Series at the Burren, got his start as a busker. He told me it was a good experience for developing his stage craft, and that turned out to be the case for me. I started and mostly played in Davis Square (in Cambridge), I did lots of it in the subway, and for one or two summers I played Harvard Square.

“For the first couple of open mikes I did, it was all cover songs. I was hooked on early 20th century jazz and blues. I was starting to write by then, but I didn’t know if my own stuff was anything that I could play in front of other people.”

Those were the days when Kucharik was performing solo, and she eventually did start incorporating her own songs into her performances. Since then, she’s had all sorts of musicians playing with her in different configurations, sometimes it’s the revolving lineup in the folky, jazzy Friends with Benefits, other times it’s the four-piece vintage blues band Tiger Moan.

At the Burren show, which is actually a pre-release concert for “Until the Words Are Gone,” which is officially coming out in June, she’ll be accompanied by various strings, a harmonica, a horn section, bass, drums, keyboards, and backing vocals.

“We’ll play a lot of material from the new album, which is all original songs,” she said, “and maybe a couple of songs from the previous one, ‘Cunning Folk.’ I’m still trying to decide if we’ll be doing some covers.”

Asked if she’ll be bringing along her French horn, she said, “No, but I recently recorded with (singer-songwriter-rocker) Dan Barracuda, and played it on a track on his record, and I played it on one song on my record.”

Amy Kucharik appears at The Burren in Somerville as part of the Burren Backroom Series on April 15 at 7:30 p.m. She’ll also be playing there in her band Tiger Moan, and the other opener is the Michael Valdez Trio. Tickets: $19. Info: 617-776-6896.

Upcoming Concerts and Club Dates:

April 14:

Two-time National Banjo Champion Jeff Scroggins and vocalist/guitarist Greg Blake front the energetic bluegrass band Colorado at The Center for Arts in Natick. (8 p.m.)